Joe was born in Winchester, Va., on January 1, 1951. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1973. He then attended East Carolina University where he received an M.B.A. degree in 1976. While in business school, he was awarded a graduate fellowship in economics.

Joe graduated cum laude from the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University, Birmingham, Ala., in 1979, and was admitted to the North Carolina State Bar that year.

Joe is licensed to practice before all North Carolina State Courts and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He is a member of the Lenoir County, Eighth Judicial District, North Carolina, and American Bar Associations. Joe has served as president of the Lenoir County and Eighth Judicial District Bar Associations and Chairman of the Eighth Judicial District Bar Candidates Committee. He is also a member of the North Carolina Land Title Association and the Real Property and Business Sections of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Joe is a 2010 recipient of the Martin Dale Hubble® Lawyers.com AV® Preeminent™ rating award in both legal ability and ethical standards.

Joe's practice is concentrated in the areas of residential and commercial real estate, title claims litigation, foreclosures, business law and corporate law. Joe has been an instructor of real estate law for candidates preparing for the North Carolina Real Estate Licensing Examination.

He serves as counsel to the Kinston Housing Authority, North Lenoir Water Corporation, Deep Run Water Corporation, the Homebuilders' Association of Kinston and the Kinston Board of Realtors. He is an active member of the Lenoir Committee of 100 and serves on its board of directors.

Recent transactions of note:

• Represented a developer of a strip shopping center in a conduit loan financing transaction.